with nine senior starters including quarterback EJ Manuel. With another

year under its belt, FSU has shown a more business-like attitude and

dramatically reduced mistakes (just 3.3 penalties per game) through the

early part of the season.

Case that FSU is still a pretender:

Offensive line is still a question mark - Even with

lofty rushing numbers through the first three games, FSU's young offensive

line still has a long way to go to prove itself. On Saturday against the

first FBS opponent, the offense produced big numbers on the ground thanks

mainly to two huge Chris Thompson runs. Nevertheless, EJ Manuel faced a good deal of

pressure and was sacked three times. Also, the offense failed to convert a first-and-goal from the 2 in the second quarter, leading some to wonder if FSU's short yardage woes will continue in 2012. Despite two runs from power-back James Wilder

and one by fullback Lonnie Pryor, the line was unable to move Wake Forest's

undersized defensive front off the ball and the 'Noles had to settle for a

field goal.

EJ Manuel not quite an elite quarterback - There

is no doubt that EJ Manuel has been efficient since taking

over as FSU's full-time starting quarterback in 2011. For his career,

Manuel has completed two-thirds of his passes and tossed 30 touchdowns with

19 interceptions. Last year, there were even whispers that Fisher's

first prized recruit might be a dark horse Heisman candidate. However, the

former Rivals100 quarterback hasn't quite lived up to the huge

expectations he had coming out of Bayside High School (Virginia Beach, Va.)

and may finish his college career just being an above average

signal-caller.

Coaching staff has yet to prove itself in big games

- With three straight top 10 recruiting classes under their belt,

Jimbo Fisher and his staff have established

themselves as elite recruiters. But outside of a couple non-BCS bowls and

wins over struggling in-state rivals, the Seminole coaching staff

doesn't have any significant victories to hang their hat on. Since

Fisher took over in 2010, FSU has not defeated a top 10 team and is just

2-4 versus ranked opponents. One of those two wins came in 2010 against a Miami team

in that finished the year unranked at 7-6. The other was a bowl win

over South Carolina that same year after it lost its best player early in

the game

The pendulum will swing after Saturday night.

That's because the 'Noles face No. 9 ranked Clemson in an

intra-conference showdown. With Virginia Tech's upset loss to Pittsburgh this

past weekend, the nationally televised showdown between the Tigers and

Seminoles, the only ranked ACC teams in the Coaches' Poll, will decide who the

king of the ACC is.

A win would put the Seminoles in the driver's seat for the Atlantic Division

and for the berth in the ACC Championship Game. On other hand, a home loss to Clemson

would be disastrous. Such a setback could effectively eliminate FSU from the

ACC Championship race should Clemson takes care of its business in ACC

competition. Such a setback might also call into question all the progress

Jimbo Fisher has made to the program since taking over as head coach.

On the whole, the positive signs appear to outnumber the red flags. While

expecations were unreasonably high in 2011, there are legitimate reasons to buy

into the hype this year. The building blocks are in place and the players and

coaches seem supremely focused on the goal of an ACC Championship and Clemson